Bekah's Story--Finding Out I AM a Heart Mom

At 2:38 p.m.on Jan.18, 2010, my little girl joined our family. She was so sweet and I was so happy to finally have her with us. Just a few hours later after meeting Big Sister, Big Brother, and grandparents; her pediatrician came to do her first exam and she informed us of a Loud Heart Murmur and wanted us to have her see a Cardiologist and have an Echo cardiogram done. I was a little stunned but I knew heart murmurs in newborns were common. I didn't realize until later that they did take a little longer than usual to let me hold my baby for the first time. No one had ever mentioned a heart murmur before then.

We thought we were going to have to wait until the next day to have the Echo performed so we just planned to have a nice quiet evening getting to know this sweet baby. My parents came to see Bekah along with my 2 sisters. My husband, A.J. and other 2 children had already left for the evening. Before too long they came and got my baby for her Echo. I was surprised that they were doing it this evening but at least it would get done sooner. My younger sister stayed with me for the Echo. Thank God she was there. I was extremely nervous and scared.
It wasn't very long before my baby was brought back to me and was informed the Dr. would be in shortly to talk with me. Thank God my sister was still there with me. He said that She had a pretty significant Heart Defect and she would need surgery within the next 10 days but they couldn't do the surgery in my hometown of Wichita, Ks. and that she would have to be airlifted to Kansas City, Mo. which is 200 miles away immediately. And he said IF she Survived IF...IF... What? My Heart Just Sank completely and there was no stopping the tears obliviously as any Mother could imagine. I was asked where my husband was and was told to get him back up to the hospital to see his new daughter before she was transferred to Children's Mercy Hospital. We weren't able to go with her during transport to K.C., Mo. So, my Dad stayed with my other children while A.J. came back to the hospital.

She has CHD(Congenital Heart Defect) called Truncus Arteriosus, VSD(Ventricular Septal Defect, and PFO(Patent Foramen Ovale).

I had no idea what was going to happen and what should I do with my other 2 children while I went with my baby girl? I was still a patient in the hospital. I would figure that out later.

Having my Baby Girl

It was a planned pregnancy and I had high blood pressure with all 3 pregnancies so nothing really unusual there. But, because of HBP I would need monthly sonograms in the 3rd trimester to check on baby's growth. There was a couple trips to the hospital because my blood pressure spiked very high so monitering was done on baby and me. Everything was fine at those trips. A few weeks later at one of my monthly sonograms they discoverd that I had polyhydramnios( extra amniotic fluid) and my Dr. proceeded in ordering weekly biophysicals which are mini sonograms. It seemed that the baby would Pass one week and then the next she would Fail which meant an extra trip to OB for Nonstress test. So, with all these complications I was scheduled for an induction at 39 weeks gestation. I was informed that I would feel her moving more because of the extra fluid and I DID. She felt very Low also; I would lay in bed and think "Please don't let me break my water here". That would have been another story altogether.

I got to the hospital on the morning of January 18, 2010. It seemed to go pretty smoothly at first but then I wasn't progressing like they wanted and there was some decels in baby's heartbeat. I seemed to be stalled at 6 centimeters. There was mention of a C-section. So, they broke my water and at one point they stopped Pitocin for a little bit. But, after my water was broke and they resumed Pitocin, there was some progress and it was time to push. It was about an 8 hour Labor and just a couple of pushes later; My little Baby Girl was here. She was perfect and sweet and healthy... so we thought.

First Things First

Welcome All...

I am a devoted wife and stay at home mom. And, I wouldn't have it any other way. I'll be married 8 years this coming September to a great man, wonderful husband and the best Dad that my kids could ask for. I do get help from him;although he complains every once in awhile; what Man wouldn't?

We have 2 little girls; Amanda is 5 years and Rebekah is 4 months now. And, our son, Lucas is 3 years. They are such a joy but there are challenging moments. We have come to find out that there are disabilities in the family and I'll blog about them all soon so you'll need to come back to find out. I have lived with Cerebral Palsy since my birth but it is a mild case although I still have limitations. I have learned to do just about everything one handed. My C.P. isn't the disabilities in my family I am talking about.
I suppose I should end this post or it'll get to be too long. LOL